Novel Review: Romancing the Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance; Nerdy

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Dan Garrett has become exactly what he hates—popular. Until recently, he was just another live-action role-playing (LARP) geek on the lowest run of the social ladder. Cue a massive growth spurt and an uncanny skill at taking three-point shots in basketball and voila…Mr. Popular. It’s definitely weird.
And the biggest drawback? Going from high school zero to basketball hero cost Dan the secret girl-of-his-dorky dreams.
A tuba-playing nerd with an eclectic fashion sense, Zelda Potts’s “Coolness” stat is about minus forty-two. Dan turning his back on her and the rest of nerd-dom was brutal enough, but when he humiliates her at school, Zelda decides it’s time for a little revenge—dork style. Nevermind that she used to have a crush on him. Nevermind that her plan could backfire big time.
It’s time to roll the dice…and hope like freakin’ hell she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.

The Cover:

It's a cute cover, and the font and image would probably catch my interest, but I don't love it.

Review:

I was really excited for this one, since I loved her first book. But it was just okay.

I did enjoy the ideas, and all of the geekery, and even the idea of the romance between the characters. The chemistry wasn’t fully there for me, but it was at least present. Both of the characters had very present parents, which I appreciated; they were good parents, too. Their friends were great as well, and I liked seeing Maddie and Logan again.

The start was rough, and I didn’t care for the way that Zelda set out trying to trick Dan. It was just petty and childish. I did appreciate the way that both Zelda and Dan learned about their closed-mindedness by the end, though. They both realized how they were acting and closing people out, and they smarted up. It was a little cheesy, and too blunt and sudden, their revelations and their reactions after, but I can look past that.

My biggest problem was the writing of the voices. Both characters had the same form of thought process, and they were both exaggerated and talking to the reader and it was cheesy and too over the top. I probably would have found it funny and enjoyable when I was younger, but now I’m passed that. It just bored me and got annoying by the end of the book.

I’m glad I picked it up, and I’m glad I’m done with it. It was just okay for me, but I would recommend it to high-school, and even middle-school, readers.

Manga Review: My Girlfriend's a Geek, Volume 5, by Pentabu and Rize Shinba

Rating (Out of 5): ~4/4.5

Publisher: Yen Press

Volumes: 5

Goodreads Synopsis:

Dating a "rotten" girl geek is no easy feat, as Taiga knows well. But after overcoming some of the strangest hurdles and learning to accept Yuiko's fangirl tendencies, he's over the moon now that their comical but loving relationship is stronger than ever! But when the fanfic he's been diligently writing for Yuiko brings Taiga some sudden and unwelcome Internet notoriety, will he be able to withstand the onslaught of a zillion Yuikos, or will he run away screaming from his happy ending?!
 

Review:

When I got this volume, I didn't know that it was the last one. And now that I've finished it, I'm super bummed that there aren't any more to come. I will probably have to go read the novels now, since I already have the first one.

I really like this series, it's so cute, and that didn't change any in this volume. I love reading about geeks, and anime ones are even better. And, I find all of the anime-lingo and pranks and things so funny. Part of it is probably also that I could see myself doing some of the things that Yuiko does to Taiga (well, if I was more of an extrovert, but I'm not, so...), with maybe a bit of exaggeration. But it's still fun.

Anyway, in the first chapter, Taiga is at Kouji's house. (And I don't think I've expressed my love for Kouji yet. But, that might be because it mostly became apparent in this volume. But, just so you know, I think I love him. He's kind of monotone, doesn't show much emotion, and just goes along with whatever is going on. He's fantastic.) Along with his little sister, Akari, and their friend Hotta. Hotta has an obvious crush on Akari, and she wants to dress them all up, but Kouji will only let her do it to Hotta, who goes along with it just fine. We were told in earlier volumes that Akari's family doesn't know about her cosplaying, but we find out that she actually meant they didn't know why she was doing these things, not that they aren't aware of her doing them. Kouji, for example, just thinks that she likes making weird clothes.

Anyway, it was funny seeing Akari mess around with Hotta, and Kouji ignoring it (even with headphones, which he is prepared with), and Taiga freaking out about all of it. And then Akari puts flowers around Kouji and Taiga after they fall asleep, and send it to Yuiko, who is having lunch with Masa-nee, at a host-type of cafe. We met Masa-nee in the previous volume, I think. She's the girl who's having problems with her boyfriend after he found out she's a fan of yaoi. So we get to hear about her problems with her boyfriend, see her newest fight with him, and how that's working out. They're ridiculous, but they seem to be working it out.

And then Yuiko forces Taiga to put the fanfic she's making him write onto Masa-nee's website. Which introduces two new characters.

The second chapter focuses on them. They are two college students, two years apart, Youhei and Koharu (yea, two males). Youhei is the one that finds the fanfic, and he's a huge fan of yaoi, and he even writes some of it. Koharu is not a fan, but is forced into it because he is staying with Youhei, who keeps forcing him to help. I want to know if there's something going on between them, because there are several scenes that make it seem like there are (the voice acting one in particular), but nothing ever really happens. But anyway, they are so cute. I love them, and it's a little disappointing that we don't get to see more of them.

Next, we see Yuiko and Akari shopping, and getting some more books. They run into Taiga and Kouji, quite literally, and we are reminded that Yuiko is still in-the-closet with her otaku-ness. This is hard to believe, since she's so open with Taiga about it, but it was enjoyable seeing her embarrassed and worried that Kouji knew about her obsession now. They all go to lunch, where Kouji and Akari discuss things, and Kouji is very straight-forward about what he saw, and just goes along with things and asks questions (this is the chapter that my love for him really shined through, just to let you know), and the girls have fun with it all. Taiga gets embarrassed about it all so easily. At first, I was thinking that his over-exaggerated reactions were for fun, and some of it probably is, but I'm thinking now that it's just his character.

And we find out that Yuiko's birthday is coming up, and Taiga completely forgot about it. Akari thinks it's hilarious how he denies that, but he has no idea what to get her. And so he tells her that he will make whatever wish she has come true. Akari thinks this is even more hilarious, and we should all know that something unfortunate is going to come out of it, because of the things that Yuiko likes.

This goes into the next chapter, and Yuiko decides that she wants him to wear his high school uniform for her, so has his mom send it to him. And she wears a sailor uniform for him (of which she has several). He thinks it's weird, but then actually kind of enjoys it, and it's mostly just fun. And it's becoming apparent that Yuiko is having a hard time with growing older, which is funny, because she doesn't seem so old. But I guess it's kind of hard to tell with only the art?

Also, we see Milan still has feelings for Yuiko, and isn't quite giving up, even when she avoids him as much as she can. I think this is interesting, and it's nice seeing Taiga's reaction, but I usually find these kind of situations interesting. Unless it's used too much, but it seems to be used not enough in this series.

I kind of loved this series, and am upset to see that it's over. I like Taiga ad Yuiko, as well as all of the other characters. They're all great. And the ending was pretty good, not that I wouldn't have liked more. I would have liked some more love-y scenes, as there weren't many and they were always interrupted by Yuiko's fan-dom, but that's alright. It was good enough and definitely enjoyable without it. And I am definitely going to have to read the novels now, so that I can have more of them.